I am perplexed by this. I am a dentist, and a member of the Academy of General Dentists. The AGD puts out a magazine publication addressing any topic related to dentistry. This month's issue has an article entitled "Practice Dentistry Pain-Free: Preventing Physical and Financial Loss with Evidence-Based Strategies." The article condemns specific exercises used in Pilates, P90X, and CrossFit.

The link I'm sharing here requires a log-in, so you probably won't see the full article. Here are a couple exerpts:

Quote:

P90X and CrossFit are both fitness crazes that are popular today because of their brief 20- to 30-minute intense circuit-type workouts. The downside of these regimens is that if you aren't properly conditioned, you fatigue quickly, which leads to poor form and poor stability, which then leads to injury, frequently of the tendons.

That's worth discussion, but sounds like a description of poorly-scaled CrossFit.

Quote:

Of the CrossFit exercises, the overhead deadlift is the most unsafe exercise for dental professionals, as it is a ballistic movement with little stabilization that places heavy load on the upper trapezius and shoulder joint. Both areas are prone to injury in dental professionals.

Overhead deadlift? There is a little graphic with the article that shows a man at the bottom of an overhead squat using a barbell, and is labeled "Overhead deadlift."

The gist of the article is that muscles in imbalance due to posturing get tight or shortened. The article proposes that these muscles shouldn't be exercised under load; they should only be exercised by stretching without over-stretching. (Upper traps, delts, pecs, SCM, supraspinatus) However, stabilizing muscles should be strengthened with weight-bearing exercise (Lower traps, abdominal obliques, infraspinatus).

I feel like this article simultaneously over-simplifies to the point of untruth and complicates things beyond understanding. How do you exercise the lower trap without exercising the upper trap? Isolation exercises?

The author is a physical therapist (Dr. Bethany Valachi) whose husband is a dentist. While I do not doubt that she has helped many people, I feel there is still a long way to go in exercise education.

In an ideal world, my mind would have dentistry top-of-mind, and an understanding of exercise would be in there somewhere, secondary to my profession. My body, however, would first think that I am a CrossFitter, and secondarily anything else I want to do. See where I'm going with this? Why not train all the muscles in my body both in mobility and strength to withstand any task given, including the imbalanced posture of dental practice? Does this PT and CrossFit have the same goal, but disagree on how to arrive at that goal? Which method will be more effective?